Tropomi

Tropomi is a satellite instrument constructed in the Netherlands that investigates air quality more accurately than ever before and provides information for climate studies. The instrument maps such elements as carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide and ozone in the atmosphere. Tropomi is the only instrument on board the Sentinel-5 precursor satellite, which is part of the European Earth observation programme Copernicus.

Tropomi is part of a long Dutch tradition in the development and construction of atmospheric measuring instruments. It builds upon previous successes such as Gome, Sciamachy and OMI. The data from all these instruments make high-quality scientific research possible and are used for many applications in our everyday lives.

Since its launch in 2016, Tropomi has been in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of 824 kilometres. From this orbit, the instrument can map the entire atmosphere each day with details of 7 by 7 kilometres. This high resolution makes it possible to detect air pollution at city level.

Tropomi is a collaboration between Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands, KNMI, SRON and TNO, on behalf of NSO and ESA. Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands is the main contractor for the construction of the instrument. KNMI and SRON are the principal investigators for the instrument. Tropomi is financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment.